VF Corp. appointed former Nike executive Trevor A. Edwards to the company’s Board of Directors, effective October 22. Edwards brings over 25 years of marketing, global brand and general management experience in apparel and footwear. He will also serve on the Board’s Talent and Compensation Committee and Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee.
“I am excited to join the VF Board at such an important time and look forward to contributing my experience and insights as the company looks to deepen its connections with consumers and adapt to evolving marketplace dynamics,” said Edwards. “Having worked in the apparel and footwear industry for decades, I know and respect VF’s well-earned reputation and am a personal fan of its iconic brands and its purpose-driven culture. I’m eager to work alongside VF’s strong Board and management team to build on that legacy and deliver stronger returns for shareholders.”
Edwards is currently a strategic advisor to direct-to-consumer brands and investment firms. He is a frequent speaker on the digitization of the retail market.
From 2013 until 2018, he was the president of Nike, Inc., reporting directly to CEO Mark Parker, overseeing the geographic regions, category business, direct-to-consumer units, product and merchandising divisions, global marketing, sales, and digital technology.
Between 1992 and 2013, Edwards held other leadership roles at Nike, including EVP of global brand and category management, chief marketing officer, VP of marketing (U.S.), and VP of marketing (EMEA).
Edwards reportedly began his career at Colgate Palmolive in 1986 and worked in positions of increasing responsibility, including global business development manager.
Edwards currently serves on the Board of Directors of Funko, Inc. and previously served on Mattel, Inc.’s Board of Directors.
Edwards resigned from his position at Nike, Inc. in March 2018 following an internal probe of inappropriate workplace behavior. Edwards, considered a possible candidate to become Nike CEO at the time, was expected to retire in August of that year due to the internal issues, the Wall Street Journal first reported (read SGB Media’s coverage here).
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve become aware of reports occurring within our organization that do not reflect our core values of inclusivity, respect and empowerment at a time when we are accelerating our transition to the next stage of growth and advance of our culture,” Nike Chairman and then CEO Mark Parker said in an internal communication to announce the internal changes to the Nike team.
At the time, a Nike spokesman reportedly told WSJ that there were no allegations against Edwards and declined to provide details. Other reporting at the time found almost a dozen other executives and managers were shown the door in the fallout from the allegations.
According to a proxy statement filed by the company, Edwards was set to lose more than $7 million in compensation in 2018 tied to restricted stock and retention bonuses due to the timing of his departure. To market watchers at the time that seemed a steep price to pay when no specific allegations were apparently made against the former number two in the chain of command at Nike Inc. To some, it was an example of the cancel culture movement, to others, it was social justice. It appears VF has done their due diligence and sees tremendous upside in having Edwards on the Board of Directors.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Trevor to our Board,” commented Richard Carucci, chair of the VF Board, in a statement. “He is a highly accomplished executive with extensive experience in apparel and footwear that will be valuable to VF as we continue to deepen our brands’ relationships with consumers, strengthen product innovation, and improve operational effectiveness. His experience will further strengthen the Board’s depth of talent and is part of the Board’s ongoing work to evaluate and regularly refresh its composition to ensure depth of expertise and diversity of perspectives.”
With the addition of Edwards, VF has appointed three new directors to its Board over the past 18 months who collectively bring experience in footwear and apparel, retail, design, technology, and sustainability.
